Think you are healthy and fit?????
An article by Katie 
Posted July 14, 2009
Think you’re healthy and fit? You run first thing in the morning, eat your fruits and veggies and aim for eight hours of sleep a night. But are you sabotaging your efforts without knowing it? You might be surprised by some of the biggest mistakes healthy women make. Check out this list below to improve your health now:
1. Focusing on the short-term. Many women focus on fitting in that wedding dress, pair of jeans or losing weight for an event. It’s important to set short-term goals, but the long term lifestyle change is much more important. Once the event is over, motivation wanes. Priority number one is to be fit the rest of your life. It helps prevent disease and improves quality of life. So don’t forget to set long-term goals, like staying off blood pressure medication.
2. Not listening. Be open-minded. Leave all preconceived ideas at the door. When your doctor, trainer or dietitian shares information with you, it’s always in your best interest. They are not “selling” you on anything. Only trying to help. So no quick-fixes. No fad diets. Just real-life ways to improve your health and to live longer. Take it and make it part of your life.
3. Being a cardio queen. Cardio is just one component of fitness. You also need strength-training and flexibility. The combination of all three help you be as healthy as possible. Strength-training is vital for women. It helps prevent osteoporosis as you get older. It’s the only way to shape your bodies how you want. And as a bonus, it makes you feel strong and improves your self-esteem.
Flexibility is necessary to stay limber and prevent injuries. Always stretch at the end of your workouts when your body is warmest. And try yoga, it’s going to help you become more flexible, balanced and less stressed in life.
4. Afraid of getting “big”. Piggy-backing on the above mistake, many women use wimpy weights while strength-training because they are afraid of getting big, body-builder muscles. Fact: women DO NOT have enough testosterone to get “big”. In order to tone, you need to build muscles. Lifting challenging weights will help tone and improve your metabolism in the process.
5. Avoiding complex carbs. Thanks to low-carb fad diets, women are afraid of bread, rice, potatoes and pasta. While you should stay away from refined carbs (aka white versions), your body needs 50-60% of your daily calories from carbs. You need the fuel from complex carbs to power through the day and your workouts. Be smart, choose whole-wheat breads and pastas, brown rice and old-fashioned oatmeal. Your body needs the nutrients from these foods, so eat up
An article by Amy Mastrogiuseppe
